TEMPE, Ariz. -- Walter Nolen was thinking.
He was tasked with finding a game from last season -- his final one at Ole Miss -- that defined who he was as a defensive tackle. Then the Arizona Cardinals' first-round pick started to answer.
"I'd probably say ... Wake Forest," he began.
But Nolen wasn't done.
"Florida," he continued. "Georgia.
"Let's pick one."
He smiled. It wasn't just that Nolen had trouble picking one game. It was that there were too many to choose from. Nolen's dominance in college, especially his last two seasons -- one of which was at Texas A&M and the final one with the Rebels -- led to him going 16th overall in last month's NFL draft. During those two seasons, Nolen had 10.5 sacks, 22.5 tackles for loss, 2 fumble recoveries and 4 passes defended to complement 85 tackles.
Nolen's production stood out to coach Jonathan Gannon immediately, but it was how Nolen racked up those numbers that led him to Arizona.
And it was clear when Gannon turned on Nolen's tape.
"Disruption, disruption," Gannon said. "We've talked about it a lot. We wanted to have a more disruptive defensive unit. We think we've added players that can help us do that. When we find players that can affect the middle of the pocket, it puts a lot of stress on the offense.
"Walter is another guy that we think can help us do that."
Arizona began taking a deeper look at Nolen last fall and scouted him at the Senior Bowl and met him at the NFL combine. The Cardinals also brought Nolen in for a 30 visit. Through it all, Gannon noticed that Nolen came across as shy at times. But Nolen isn't shy about acknowledging he's a "silent confident person."
The Cardinals' scouts kept telling Gannon "you should go to his practice and see what it looks like." And when Gannon started watching the film, he saw what they were talking about and one word came to mind: "Wow," Gannon said.
Nolen's tape spoke for itself, general manager Monti Ossenfort said, describing the 21-year-old as a "violent, disruptive, high motor, tenacious, three-down player."
"It is hard to find those guys that can affect the pocket from the interior of the formation," Ossenfort said.
Gannon also said Nolen has a "huge heart," which he saw after the Cardinals took cornerback Will Johnson in the second round. Among the messages that flooded Gannon's phone, one was from Nolen, who asked for Johnson's number. Gannon passed it along but gave a warning: "He's honestly a little disappointed where he got drafted."
Nolen responded: "Don't worry coach. I'll talk to him."
That short interaction with Nolen stuck with Gannon, who, initially, didn't want to tell that story. Gannon later said he has never had player do what Nolen did.
"Those things go unnoticed," Gannon said. "But this is going to be a close group and a close-knit team."
Nolen credits some of his production at Ole Miss, which led to him being a consensus first-team All-American, to the Rebels' scheme. Gannon said how Ole Miss used Nolen matches with the Cardinals' scheme for its defensive front.
Another aspect of Nolen's game that stood out to Gannon was his ability to play 50 to 60 snaps per game against no-huddle offenses while chasing down screens, getting in the pile and breaking away from the line.
"That jumps out on the tape for a 300-plus-pound guy that's playing a ton of snaps," Gannon said.
Nolen might be shy, but his confidence is there. And it's high.
"I would say I'm a unicorn just to kind of sum it up," Nolen said. "I can do whatever for you in any given situation just as long as I get the right coaching. I can take it from there."